In surgical operations, it is often necessary to remove fluid such as blood and other body fluids from the body cavity being operated on. This is commonly done with a tube connected to a suction device. However, since the fluid may contain solid particles, and since trauma would reslt if living tissue is drawn into the suction tube, it is customary to lay down a sponge in the body cavity and press the end of the suction tube against the sponge, so that any fluid is drawn into the suction tube through the sponge without picking up tissue, preventing clogging of the suction tube and preventing contact betweem living tissue and the end of the suction tube, a two-fold function. Such a procedure is time consuming and inconvenient, and there is the ever present danger of a sponge being left in the body cavity.